Detective Comics Vol 1 607
Looker arrives at STAR Labs, but she realizes that Karlo is not at the place. She starts flying back to Gotham General, but she is exhausted and can no longer fly as a result of the strain from the previous activities. In order to give her powers time to recover, Looker asks for a taxi ride to the hospital. Meanwhile, Batman inquires at the hospital's reception about any person at the blood lab, but he is told that Doctor Lowell is alone. Batman thinks that maybe Karlo is at STAR Labs, but when he notices two shadows on the blood lab's window, he knows the truth. When the blood samples have been merged, Karlo forces the doctor to inject the blood in his body and as soon as the tranfusion is complete, his body begins to change, adopting the shape of clay. Testing his new abilities, Karlo stretches his arms with the malleability of Lady Clay and kills the doctor with the lethal touch of Clayface III. It is then that Batman breaks through the window and confronts Karlo, who now calls himself the Ultimate Clayface. Batman tells him to stop the madness, but Clayface replies that he is not mad and that he is not a "misunderstood monster" as the Hollywood horrors he used to play, but he is conscious and willing to destroy anything that crosses his path. Batman's efforts are futile against the powers of the Ultimate Clayface, but nonetheless, he tries to fight back. At that moment, Looker finally arrives at the hospital and starts climbing the Batrope towards the blood laboratory. Batman uses an emergency flare to buy himself some time by blinding Clayface. However, the powerful shape-shifter recovers faster than Batman expected and the Dark Knight finds himself in the grip of the monster once again. Looker arrives in time to save Batman from a gruesome death, but her powers are not fully recovered yet and thus, she is knocked aside by Clayface with no real effort. Batman tries to help her, but he is also knocked aside as none of them are a match to the Ultimate Clayface. Karlo finally decides it's time to eliminate his enemies and he prepares his lethal touch to melt them both. Batman tries something desperate and tells Looker to overload Clayface's mind and body using her powers. Looker uses all the energy she's got left and the attack works. Clayface loses control of his powers and his whole body starts burning with the lethal, corrosive touch. Batman attacks Clayface with a chair and pushes the monster out through the window into the street below, where a couple of police officers witness Clayface's fall on the sidewalk and they also watch as Clayface burns through the ground and falls endlessly towards the Earth's core. When Looker asks Batman if Clayface's fall would stop, he jokingly tells her that they should probably warn the authorities in China. Noticing a lighter mood from Batman, Looker reflects how this case reminded her of the Outsiders and asks if there is any chance of them becoming partners in crime-fighting once again, but Batman refuses, telling her that he works better alone. Looker was already expecting that answer as she had being inside Batman's mind and she learned how the man thinks, but she thought it was worth a try. In the aftermath, Lady Clay and Clayface III enjoy the dawn on the top of the mountains in the outskirts of Gotham, not worrying about Karlo, Batman or Gotham City. And so, two misunderstood monsters have found solace in each other's love and they are not willing to sacrifice this for anything in the world. | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * * * Antagonists: * ** ** Other Characters: * Doctor Lowell * * * * * * Locations: * ** ** Items: * * * * | Notes = * This issue is reprinted in . * Basil Karlo, the Ultimate Clayface appears next in . * Clayface III and Lady Clay appear next in . | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}